1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to graphitic devices and, more specifically, to a graphene transistor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Microelectronic circuits are fundamental to virtually all digital systems in existence. Current circuit technology employs semiconductor transistors that are coupled to each other with conductors, such as metal and polysilicon. Electrical current flowing through such conductors results in heat generation. A circuit density increases, heat generation becomes an increasingly significant problem.
One area currently being explored involves nano-scale carbon-based circuitry. For example, carbon nanotubes have the property of ballistic charge transport, in which when current flows through a nanotube almost no heat is generated. Unfortunately, because carbon nanotubes cannot currently be grown in a pattern corresponding to a desired practical scale circuit, use of carbon nanotube circuits are not currently seen as a viable solution.
Recently, graphene circuits have been proposed. Graphene is an allotrope of carbon that is only one atom thick. Graphene circuits employ a substantially flat graphene layer that has been patterned using conventional micro-electronic lithographic patterning techniques. The graphene can be patterned into channels with dimensions approximating the dimensions of carbon nanotubes, thereby achieving near-ballistic charge transport properties.
One difficulty currently experienced with graphene based electronics is that graphene behaves as a semimetal and not a semiconductor. As a result, most graphene transistors do not effectively function as switches due to large source to drain leakage currents. As a result, most attempts at making graphene transistors result in transistors that cannot be switched off. This problem has been approached by several different methods. In one method, very narrow graphene ribbons are produced which are often observed to have a band gap. In another method, attempts have been made to chemically functionalize graphene to give the functionalized regions of the graphene semiconductor properties. These approaches have not yet yielded graphene transistors that can be used in practical applications.
Therefore, there is a need for graphene-based transistors in which regions of the graphene have semiconducting properties. There is also a need for a method of making semiconducting graphene.